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Sgt Murphy, a police tactical photographer, said he decided to release the images in response to the portrait of Mr Tsarnaev on an upcoming cover of Rolling Stone.

He said the picture of the alleged bomber with shaggy hair and a light beard glamorised "the face of terror".

"What Rolling Stone did was wrong. This guy is evil. This is the real Boston bomber. Not someone fluffed and buffed for the cover of Rolling Stone magazine," he said in a statement carried by Boston Magazine.

It said Sgt Murphy had been "relieved of his duty" hours after releasing the photographs and that his status would be reviewed next week.

Massachusetts State Police declined to comment on whether Sgt Murphy had been suspended.

In a statement, spokesman David Procopio said only that the release of the photographs of Mr Tsarnaev's capture was unauthorised.

Criticism of Rolling Stone cover

A day earlier, Boston officials reacted angrily to the portrait of Mr Tsarnaev on the cover of Rolling Stone's August issue, over the headline: "The bomber: How a popular, promising student was failed by his family, fell into radical Islam and became a monster."

Boston Mayor Thomas Menino called the cover "a total disgrace", and the drugstore chain CVS Caremark Corp refused to sell the magazine.

Mr Tsarnaev pleaded not guilty in court last week to all charges in a 30-count indictment.